Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I have never seen the TV series Sherlock before Thursday night when we watched it as a class, but I knew it was quite popular. I thought it was hilarious and very well done- they showed Sherlock’s sarcastic, smart-alec-y, very intelligent and observational side perfectly. Benedict Cumberbatch was perfectly cast for that role, as well as Martin Freeman as Dr.Watson. I didn’t expect each episode to be 90 minutes long, as long as a movie, though! But I hear that’s normal for UK TV shows.

            I have, however, seen the two movies that came out about Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. It was interesting to see the comparison of the more flirty and woman-loving Downey compared to the female apathy Cumberbatch showed. I don’t know which one would suit Sherlock more, because they’re both equally entertaining, but I have a feeling it’s Cumberbatch’s virgin version. Law’s Watson was a little more mature than Freeman’s version of Watson as well.

            I looked up fun facts about the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, that might have been overlooked by presenters in class and I found a couple very interesting things.

            -He wasn’t knighted for his fictional work (Sherlock Holmes), but for his non-fiction pamphlet written about the Boer War. This took place in 1902 by King Edward VII.

            -Doyle was once on the same cricket team as JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan.

            -He was friends with Dracula author, Bram Stoker, and was a classmate of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, at the University of Edinburgh.

            -Doyle was close friends with Harry Houdini, though their friendship was strained due to differences in spiritual beliefs. Doyle believed in fairies, mediums, and ghosts, while Houdini did not and attempted to disprove these hoaxes his whole life. Here is a link to a small Drunk History video about this (warning: there is strong language):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POFaDJ5IJHg

            -The town in Switzerland that he used as the setting of Holmes’ death in his series made a statue of the famous detective in 1988 and named the square after Doyle himself.

            -Doyle was able to free a man wrongfully convicted in prison using his own time, money, and influence. The man, Oscar Slater, was released with a £6,000 compensation, which he did not share with Doyle.

            -Doyle died in his garden clutching a flower in one hand and his chest in the other. His final words were to his wife- “You are beautiful.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10561577/Arthur-Conan-Doyle-19-things-you-didnt-know.html